Chapter 1 of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door. She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony. “No one here,” she murmured. “Just my luck.” For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
Chapter 1 of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.”
a very dark black
From this reading “She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.”
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.”
hold firmly
From this reading “For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.”
a circular rounded projection or protuberance
From this reading “For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.”
past form of “print” — put into print
block consisting of a thick piece of something
From this reading “She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
to cause inconvenience or discomfort to
In this reading “For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
a very dark black
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
hold firmly
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “No one here,” she murmured.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
and nothing more
From this reading “Just my luck.”
a circular rounded projection or protuberance
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading “Just my luck.”
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading “No one here,” she murmured.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Just my luck.”
not any; not one
From this reading “No one here,” she murmured.
the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “No one here,” she murmured.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
past form of “print” — put into print
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
block consisting of a thick piece of something
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
plural of “state” — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading For all that, she put out a hand to grasp the knob.
characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago _Printed in the United States of America_ Florence Huyler read the number on the door.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading She wondered at the lack of light from within; the glass of the door was like a slab of ebony.
Chapter 1 of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 267 sentences, grouped into 54 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 267 sentences of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls, unabridged, divided into 54 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 267 sentences, grouped into 54 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 54 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 54 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4843 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44062 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44062, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 403 minutes of reading across 969 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Crystal Ball: A Mystery Story for Girls, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
